USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 11
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1898 .- On January 12th there was a good rain. Prior to that the weather was dry and mild. On the 18th and 19th there was a fall of 18 inches of snow, but the next day it com- menced melting. There was another heavy rain on the 24th. It was, perhaps, the wettest January ever known here. There was not very much rain during February, but there was a good deal of cold weather. March was a wet and cold month; on the 21st there was a wind storm that did damage in the vicinity of Va- leda, and on the 29th another one occurred, which was destructive at Bartlett; on the 22d of March there was a slight snow, and on the 28th a freeze which destroyed gardens and in- jured oats. On April 4th was one of the hardest rains ever known here, and with it fell
some hail. Corn planting commenced about the 10th of April, but owing to the wet weather it was much delayed, and much of it was not planted until in May. On May Ist a heavy rain, accompanied by wind, did damage at Chetopa and other points. A remarkable amount of water fell during the spring and summer, and the Neosho was out of its banks once of twice in July; the wet weather very much interfered with harvesting, and also prevented plowing until about the middle of August. There were several heavy rains in September, but wheat sowing was in progress from about the first of the month. There was a cold spell the latter part of October, and a blizzard accompanied by snow and sleet on November 21st. The latter part of November and the first half of December were cold, a good deal of the time the thermometer reaching zero or below. On December 3d eight inches of snow fell, and four inches more on the IIth; on the 18th there was a heavy rain, and the Neosho was out of its banks in places; the last week of the year was disagreeable weather and the roads were muddy.
1899 .- The wet, muddy weather of the previous month continued into January. Gen- erally, the weather during the month was mild ; there was not enough ice for skating until near the close of the month, when there were several days of zero weather; on the 23d and 30th there were light snows. February was a cold month; there were a number of days when the mercury sank below zero, and on the 12th it reached 27 degrees below zero. The snow which fell on January 23d was added to on several occasions, and lay on the ground until past the middle of February; about the 20th of the month the weather commenced to mod- erate. Farmers commenced sowing oats the last of February. There was another snow
89
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
on the 4th of March, but it did not remain long, and still another on the 18th, when the weather was somewhat colder; on March 27th and 28th some six inches of snow fell and there was good sleighing for two or three days. This weather was repeated on the 5th of April, when there was a fall of five inches of snow, and sleighs were again running for a day or two. As a whole, the winter seems to have been the coldest one experienced for years, if not the coldest ever known here; quite a good deal of wheat was killed by the cold, and was plowed up and put into spring crops. Corn planting commenced about the middle of April, but was delayed by the hard rains occurring the latter part of April and the fore part of May. On May 9th there was a severe electri- cal storm. There were a number of hard rains during June and July, and the Neosho was out of its banks once or twice. Farmers com- menced their wheat harvest about the middle of June. On August 13th there was a heavy rain, accompanied by wind, which did much damage to corn and fruit. While during the fall there were several rains, August, Septem- ber and October were generally dry. There was plenty of rain during November. On the IIth and 13th of December there were several inches of snow, and on the 15th ice was thick enough for skating. Muddy roads prevailed during the latter part of December.
1900 .- There were several slight snows during January, and one or two heavy rains, besides a good deal of damp, misty weather. The last half of the month was rather pleas- ant, and at the close of the month there was a hard freeze. The first half of February was pleasant ; one or two rains in that time were helpful to wheat ; on the 18th there was enough freezing to make good skating. The first week of March was cold and disagreeable; on the
5th there was a soaking rain. Farmers com- menced sowing oats the second week in March, and planting corn about the 20th. About the middle of April there was a hard frost which killed to the ground most of the corn that was up. About April IIth, an electrical storm oc- curred in which several barns near Oswego were burned to the ground. May was rather dry and the month generally pleasant. There were several rains in June; on the 7th there was a hard wind storm. Harvesting commenced about the IIth but was somewhat interfered with by wet weather. Towards the close of the month there was some extremely hot weather. In July there were more hard rains. A quantity of grain was destroyed by the Ne- osho getting out of its banks. The fore part of August was dry but in the latter part of the month there were several rains and the wet weather continued into September; in fact, there was plenty of rain during September. Wheat sowing did not commence until about the middle of September. The Neosho was again bank full, and in some places out of banks the fore part of October. On October 9th occurred the first frost. The entire fall was mild and pleasant. The first freezing that was hard enough to make skating was in the last week in the year, and this lasted a day or two in January; but all the time the weather was pleasant. The only snow that fell this winter was on the 12th of February, 1901, and that was hardly enough to cover the ground well. The winter was one of the mildest and most pleasant in our history. Until the close of De- cember there was nothing to interfere with plowing, and very little weather too cold to do any kind of farm work during January and the first part of February, 1901. Towards the close of February, there was a little freezing weather.
90
HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
METEOROLOGICAL REPORT.
I am indebted to D. Doyle and James M. Carrigan for the material contained in the fol- lowing tables. Mr. Doyle kept the Govern- ment weather bureau station at Oswego until November, 1899, after which it was in charge of Mr. Carrigan. The maximum figures indi- cate the evening observations and the min- imum figures the morning observations.
TEMPERATURE REPRESENTED IN DEGREES
MOISTURE
Maximum
Minimum
Mcan
Precipita- tion
Reported
il. Inches
July
88
67
78
7.55
August
85
63
74
5.37
September.
86
61
73
5.55
October.
93
26
56
.00
November.
59
34
47
2.95
December
46
28
37
9.50
For the year
70
40
55
45.82
1896
January.
47
28
38
.35
February.
60
33
46
.67
March
58
34
46
1.31
April
76
54
65
3,31
May.
85
61
73
7.00
June
88
64
76
5.86
July.
92
70
81
5 96
August
99
69
84
2,47
September
84
58
71
3.81
February
36
18
27
1.13
March
30
31
30
1.78
April.
45
21
33
7.34
May.
70
52
61
5.16
June.
88
68
78
4.46
July
97
63
80
3.98
August
97
58
78
1.80
September.
108
36
72
3.10
October.
77
34
55
1.82
November
60
30
45
1.68
December
46
28
37
9.00
For the year
66
39
52
41.45
1894
January.
41
29
35
1.50
February
55
24
40
1.10
March
66
34
50
3.45
April.
78
42
59
2 27
May.
83
49
66
3 13
June.
93
63
78
3.61
July.
98
60
79
4 07
August.
99
61
80
5 00
September
85
53
69
46
35
40
4.95
February ..
54
31
43
1.01
March.
57
39
48
6.70
April
68
46
57
3.30
May
80
59
70
6.85
June.
90
68
79
6.53
July.
88
69
79
6 80
August
88
69
78
3.60
September
92
28
57
3.14
February
38
12
25
50
March
61
30
45
2 50
April.
76
47
62
67
May
41
62
3 22
June.
×5
53
69
6 41
For the year
69
45
57
51.43
41
29
35
.80
October.
84
46
65
4.02
November
58
38
48
1.33
December
56
32
44
1.17
For the year
74
49
61
37.26
1897
January.
40
24
32
4.17
February.
68
31
49
2.00
March.
61
35
48
4.47
April.
69
49
59
3.33
May
79
52
66
1.24
June.
88
66
77
4.21
July.
95
68
81
6.26
August
93
65
79
1.44
September
96
63
80
.05
October.
84
53
69
1.71
November.
62
36
49
1.00
December
44
25
34
2.00
For the year.
73
47
60
31 88
1898
January.
October.
82
41
61
59
November
51
34
43
2 95
December ..
36
24
30
1.23
For the year
72
43
58
35 68
1895
January.
41
21
31
1.60
October.
62
44
55
3,24
November
55
36
45
1.94
December
41
22
37
3.37
TEMPERATURE REPRESENTED IN DEGREES
MOISTURE
1893
Maximum
Minimum
Mean
Precipita-
tion
Reported
in Inches
January.
1
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
TEMPERATURE REPRESENTED IN DEGREES
MOISTURE
TEMPERATURE REPRESENTED IN DEGREES
MOISTURE
1900
Maximum
Minimum
Mean
Precipita-
Reported
in Inches
January.
42
28
35
1.18
January.
48
29
39
.30
February.
38
20
29
1.73
March.
54
34
44
2.34
April.
67
46
56
5.57
May
80
61
70
.00
June.
86
65
76
4,22
June.
90
65
78
8.76
July.
89
67
78
4.23
August
93
70
81
2.45
August
97
71
84
1.37
September
87
58
73
.55
September
85
63
74
8.03
October.
87
56
71
3.28
78
53
65
2.19
November.
60
40
50
1.81
December
45
25
35
1.63
December
50
29
39
.63
For the year
70
48
59
29.79
For the year
70
48
59
41.20
February.
43
32
1.90
March
55
36
46
1,59
April
75
48
62
3.73
May.
80
57
69
5.94
July
92
68
80
6.11
Precipita-
Reported
in loches
1899
Maximum
Minimum
Mean
tion
tion
1.45
November.
54
36
45
October.
91
6
STORMS
1871 .- July Ioth, hard wind followed by rain, at Parsons. August 27th, hard wind storm at Chetopa; several houses blown down (among them Lockwood's house, four miles west) ; tornado from northwest to southeast over Elm Grove and other townships; over 20 houses badly damaged and several completely destroyed; Mrs. Scott and child, in Howard township, killed; one man had an arm broken; Alfred Swope's house all blown to pieces ; Mat Sharp's house, with 16 in it, blown over.
1873 .- Night of April 5th hail storm broke out all window lights in west side of buildings in Oswego. May 22d storm at Jack- sonville blew down several buildings and killed seven persons.
1877 .- June 6th, wind storm at Chetopa blew down chimneys, tore off roofs, etc. June 18th, one of the hardest rains ever known, ac- companied by wind and hail. August 18th, cyclone, water-spout, and hail storm, from! southwest to northeast, between Chetopa and Oswego.
1878 .- March Ist, cyclone between Labette and Parsons; J. M. Wilson's large barn picked up, carried some distance, and demolished; E. Well's barn, in North township, blown to pieces; picked his house up and put it down some two rods away; demolished R. Kimball's barn; took his house from foundation and turned it around; blew down stone building
for E. H. Taylor. June 6th, tornado over Labette City. which demolished the school- house and did some other damage.
1879 .-- May 30th, severe wind and rain storm at Chetopa; signs blown down, etc. June 14th, another hard wind storm, from west to east, over southern portion of county, partly removed Kinston Presbyterian church from foundation, and blew in one or two build- ings in Chetopa. July-Wind blew down east span of Chetopa bridge, then in process of erection.
1880 .- April 2d; severe hail storm in Wal- ton, and also in northern part of county gen- erally. May 8th, small cyclone west of Che- topa damaged W. E. Liggett's kitchen and or- chard. December IIth, severe rain and wind storm at Chetopa; partly removed Catholic church from its foundation; also other build- ings.
1881 .- September 29th, a small tornado in Oswego scattered some of Sharp's lumber, blew down Tuttle's porch, etc.
1883 .- May 13th, a cyclone from the Ter- ritory came in west of Cecil, blew Cecil M. E. church to pieces, throwing the capstones to the windows through the air, but leaving Bible and hymn-book untouched on the box used for a pulpit ; blew M. U. Ramsburg's house to atoms, partly tore down other buildings, and uprooted trees. The storm occurred about 6 p. m., just
93
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
after church was out. At the same time both houses at Fishkill were reported to have been torn down.
1884 .- July 2d, tornado blew Cecil church to atoms; destroyed houses, barns, grain ; heavy hail.
1885 .- September IIth, hail storm at Par- sons and vicinity.
1893 .- April 19th, quite a severe electri- cal storm at Edna. April 25th, a hail storm did considerable damage at and in the vicinity of Oswego. May 8th, heavy hail storm in the western part of the county.
1894 .- June 25, one of the hardest hail storms ever known in the county visited the southern and eastern portion of the county; nearly all the grain between Oswego and Che- topa was destroyed; the oat straw was cut into small pieces.
1895 .- July 5th, an electrical storm at Che- topa. July 7th, a very severe wind storm ex- tended over most of the county ; at Altamont, it unroofed buildings, blew down porches and did other general damage; at Chetopa, it blew down the smoke-stack to the electric light plant, removed and destroyed nearly all the awnings and porches in the business part of the town, broke down trees and caused a large amount of other damage. At Oswego, the
water works iron stand-pipe was blown down, the streets were obstructed with broken shade trees, the opera house and several other build- ings were unroofed, and general damage was sustained in very many ways; at other points in the county the damage was not so great
1896 .- May (near the close), a hard wind storm blew down or removed from their foun- dations several buildings in the northeast part of the county.
1898 .- May Ist, a wind storm unroofed some buildings in Chetopa and removed others from their foundations.
1900 .- June 7th, a tornado swept over quite a large portion of the county. In the south- eastern portion it unroofed some buildings, broke down trees and made itself felt in other respects. Just west of Oswego it blew a por- tion of a train from the St. Louis & San Fran- cisco Railroad tracks. At Labette it made a total wreck of the Baptist church and also blew down one or two dwelling houses and sev- eral barns. Along the Neosho bottom, in the northeast part of the county, it wrecked several buildings, broke down trees and injured crops. Trees were blown down and a large number of buildings more or less injured in Parsons. Ten days later this storm was duplicated in the northeast part of the county.
MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS
While we were still a part of Neosho coun- ty, we were recognized by its authorities as being of sufficient importance to be provided with at least apparent municipal privileges. The first official record which I have found, directly tending to give us these privileges, was made March 6, 1865, by the commissioners of Neosho county, at which time, in dividing the county into municipal townships, they formed Mission township, and made it embrace all south of Canville township as far south as the county line, and established Osage Mission as the voting-place of the township. By this order of the commissioners, the southern part of Neosho county, and all of what is now Labette county, was embraced in one township, with Osage Mission as the headquarters thereof. The next official action affecting our municipal affairs was made by the commissioners of Neosho county on July 2, 1866, the record of which is as follows :
"On motion, it was resolved that the south line of Mission township shall be designated as follows: By a line running due east and west across three miles due south of Osage Catholic Mission.
"On motion, it was resolved that there be a township organized to be called Lincoln town- ship, and to be bounded as by a line running due east and west from a point two miles north of the mouth of Hickory Creek across the county, on the north by Mission township, on
the east by the county line, and on the west by. the county line. Place of voting, Trotter's ford, on the Neosho river, at Patterson's store.
"On motion, it was resolved that there be a new township organized south of Lincoln township, to be called Grant township, bounded as follows : On the north by Lincoln township, on the east by county line, and on the south by line running due east and west from Reaves's mill-site on the Neosho River, on the west by county line. Place of voting, Montana.
" On motion, it was resolved that there be a new township organized south of Grant township, to be called Labette township; said township to be bounded as follows: On the north by the south line of Grant township, on the east by the county line, on the south by the county line, on the west by the county line .. Place of voting : J. S. Steel's house."
This provision made a strip something over a mile in width of what is now Labette county a part of Lincoln township, and the remainder of Labette county was divided into Grant and Labette townships.
Before the organization of Labette county, the governor appointed two justices of the peace : one, George Bennett, residing at Mon- tana; and the other C. H. Talbot, residing at Oswego. From the record in the office of the Secretary of State, it would seem that two orders were made for the appointment of Mr.
95
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
Bennett-one on May 15,and the other on June 8, 1866. I do not know what was the cause of this. On July 3. 1866 the commissioners of Neosho county approved Mr. Bennett's bond as justice of the peace, which made him the first legally qualified civil officer residing in what is now Labette county. Mr. Talbot was appointed September 24, 1866, and proba- bly qualified soon thereafter, although I have not the date of his qualification.
Upon the appointment of the commission- ers for the organization of the county, before calling an election, they divided the county into nine precincts : four in range 21, the south one of which they named Chetopa; three in the central part of the county, designated North, Labette and Hackberry; and two in the west- ern part, which they designated Timber Hill (or possibly Big Hill, as Mr. Dickerman, then county clerk, says), and Pumpkin Creek. How- ever this name is not given at all in any record we now have, but in the first reference to this part of the county in the commissioners' pro- ceedings, it is called Canada. Of the division thus made there was no change until Novem- ber 21, 1867, excepting to more definitely or- ganize Timber Hill and Canada townships. The only change subsequently made was to divide some of these townships and create new munic- ipalities.
NEOSHO TOWNSHIP.
The settlement of this township commenced in the summer of 1865. I have found no one who knows the date of the first settlement, nor even who the first settler was. Much of the information from which this account is made is derived from James W. Galyen, who settled on the south half of section 8, township 31, range 21, Dec. 25, 1865. When he came there were
already along the river several families, all of whom had come that fall and winter ; so that it may be safely said that the settlement of the township did not commence prior to September of that year. It is probable that the first set- tlers in the township were a company who came from Texas, composed of a Jones family and a Cox family, each containing quite a number of individuals, and some others. They seemed to have been on their way north, without any very definite point of destination in view, and were camping along the river in this township, allowing their stock to feed, when they heard of the proposed treaty with the Osages and con- cluded to locate there. Among those who were located when Mr. Galyen came were: Jesse Frye, on section 9; a man by the name of John Buck, on the east side of the river; Newton Lowery, on section 5 ; and Mr. Spriggs, on sec- tion 16. Mr. Spriggs had a pole shanty on his claim at this time, but never brought his family here, and sold his claim to Asa Rogers. Craig Coffield and Clark Coffield located on section 28, in November ; Holland and Baldwin were located on section 4. At the close of 1865 it is probable that there were not to exceed a dozen families in the township, and some of these were only there for the purpose of hold- ing the claims until they could get something out of them and then leave. In 1866 many more settlers came in, and much was done to- ward improving the claims taken. Messrs. Brown and Sampson R. Robinson brought a saw mill from Bourbon county and located it on section 4, in the fall of 1866, and soon had it in operation. This was the first mill in oper- ation in the county, and from it Mr. Galyen got the first lumber that was made, which he used to make a floor for his cabin. All the cabins up to this time had nothing but dirt floors. Of the settlers who came about this
96
HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
time I may mention William Logan, who came early in 1866. He ran a blacksmith shop at Jacksonville; was the first trustee of the town- ship, having been elected at the election in April, 1867, and was elected county commis- sioner in the fall of 1867, and figured quite largely in the local affairs in that part of the county. Nathan Ames came in the latter part of 1866, and settled on sections 16 and 17, and at once became one of the leading spirits in the new settlement. Messrs. Pringle and Marguad settled on section 21 the same fall.
CELEBRATIONS.
On July 4, 1866, the first celebration in that part of the county was held in Kenney's grove on the northwest quarter of section 23. All the settlers in that part of the county gathered here to see each other and participate in the celebration. Dr. Thurman, who lived on sec- tion 22, read the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1867, another celebration was held, this time in Logan's grove, at which J. F. Bel- lamy, who had shortly before that time moved into the vicinity, gave the address.
RELIGIOUS EXERCISES.
A Mr. Owens was located on the north- east quarter of section 5, in 1866. His wife was an enthusiastic worker, and that summer opened in their own house and conducted the first Sunday-school in the township, which was continued until the winter. We have 110 account of any preaching in the township until 1867, when Joseph Rogers, who was a Method- ist local preacher living on section 16, west of the river, commenced holding services at pri- vate houses at different points in the township. After the school-house in district 16 was com-
pleted, Rev. Jackson Statton commenced preaching there, and continued for some time to hold services.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in the township was taught by Mrs. Abigail Ames, wife of Samuel Ames, in their own house on the northwest quarter of section 14, in the spring of 1868. That fall E. H. Taylor commericed teaching school in a house on section 5, and finished in the log school-house which the citizens turned out and constructed that fall. In this school-house, as soon as' it was finished a literary society was organized, of which Mr. Taylor was president, and at the meetings nearly all the people in that part of the county were present.
INDIANS.
West of the Neosho River on both sides of the county line, partly in section 5 in this coun- ty, partly in Neosho county, was situated one of White Hair's towns. This was aban- doned about the time the white settlers com- menced coming in here. About 100 graves could be counted on this site, in some of which the frame of the occupant was still sitting and well preserved. The burying was done by piling stones over the lower extremities, leav- ing the body in a sitting posture, and then pil- ing up stones around it. When the settlers. came here they found the remains of an old building on section 4, the posts still standing, giving evidence that at some prior time the Catholics from the Mission had probably had a station. The mile-posts between the Cher- okee Neutral Lands and the Osage Reserva- tion were still standing as they had been placed there by the surveyors when the lines had been run.
97
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
INCIDENTS.
T. D. G. Marquad and Mary Buck were married, it is said, in April, 1866; if this is correct it must have been the first mariage in the county after the war.
In May, 1866, Mr. and Mrs. Hampton had born to them twins, named John and Mary.
ORGANIZATION.
There has been no change in the boundary of the east tier of townships from the time of their organization. They were all laid off by the commissioners appointed for the organiza- tion of the county, prior to the first election. There is no record of their organization prior to November 21, 1867, when the whole county was laid off into townships, at which time it was declared, "Neosho township No. I shall in- clude town 31, R. 21." Two voting precincts have been maintained in the township almost from its organization-one on the east and the other on the west side of the Neosho. There is no record showing who were elected officers in April, 1867, but on October 23, 1867, the res- ignation of John W. Ankron as justice of the peace is accepted, and the record subsequently shows J. B. Graham to be one of the justices of the peace. On January 14, 1868, "It is hereby ordered, that the office of township trustee in Neosho township be declared vacant, as the present holder of said office has been elected to a county office." This evidently refers to Will- iam Logan, who had been elected and quali- fied as one of the county commissioners, and it is safe to say he was the trustee elected in April, 1867. On the day on which the office was declared vacant as above, Anthony Amend was appointed to fill the vacancy. For some reason which I do not know, no election was
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